Earlier this week, in checking Phandroid, I noticed the following item. Apparently, Google has trashed the Just In section from the Android Market. I hadn’t noticed myself, because I hadn’t checked the Just In section for months.
Apparently developers aren’t too happy about this, as it’s one way they can stand out from the larger, more prominent app developers. But in my experience the Just In section isn’t useful at all, and I can’t imagine developers get much traffic from it. The normal disclaimer applies here: I am not a developer, so I don’t know exactly what generates them the most traffic.
But I am an end user, and a voracious one at that. I’m always checking out various apps, wither by large or small developers, that can enhance my Android experience. In that experience, I’ve found the Just In section largely useless. When I first started blogging here, I went to the Just In section all the time. It was a place, I thought, where I could find the latest Android apps and bring them to the AndGeeks readers.
Truth be told, I don’t think I ever actually wrote about any of the apps I found there. What I found consisted mostly of apps I didn’t care about, or otherwise porn. Lot of porn. But that’s what happens when you open the floodgates for developers. You get lots of porn. Stop and process that for a second. I’m a guy who has an incentive to find the newest apps in the Market. There are dozens of Android blogs out there, and almost all of them contain overlapping information.
Wouldn’t a blog want to stand out by examining the newest apps available? Then think about a non-blogging user. What incentive do they have to check the Just In section, especially if it’s filled with un-rated apps? I’m sure some people continued checking the Just In section, and I’m sure that developers got some level of traffic from it. But considering how quickly apps are added to the Market, there are bound to be mostly duds there.
The more adept users find better filters, such as those provided throughout the Market and such third party sources as AppBrain, to find their apps. Or they come to blogs like AndGeeks. I really don’t think developers are losing much with the removal of Just In. There just wasn’t much quality there, and it leaves users with little incentive to visit.
4 comments… read them below or add one
The just in sections is also a list of apps that were recently updated that already existed in the market. It wasn’t just for new apps,it was a great way to generate traffic.
Google should bring this category back.
Yeah, you’re ‘wrong’, no offense :) while you’re correct that there’s a lot of junk in the just in section; it’s still the most reliable marketing device us tiny devs have (or HAD).
You might check the just in section much, but millions of users do. It’s hard to think of another as easy way of exposing your app to millions of users at virtually no cost.
Hi,
I’d like to comment on your post. You’d be suprised how much traffic the “Just In” generates. I agree that I can’t recall using it but apparantly there are people out there that do.
To give you an idea, the daily downloads of my app quadruple in the hours after being placed in the “Just In” list. Those are four digits.
Of course.. if you’d consider there are millions of Android devices it’s a little scarse. But enough of a boost to plan small, often releases rather than a big one.
My games get lots of hits from the Just In section, but fewer now. Mostly from people that still have the old market. It’s actually a great way for minor exposure without needing to post around. Even with all the crap, people do still look through it. It’s sad to see it’s gone. Scary, actually. Google should instead at least filter apps with a yes/no button so obvious trash apps like porn just get an instant no so they don’t flood as much.